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Can robots be creative? - Gil Weinberg

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People have been grappling with the question of artificial creativity -- alongside the question of artificial intelligence -- for over 170 years. For instance, could we program machines to create high quality original music? And if we do, is it the machine or the programmer that exhibits creativity? Gil Weinberg investigates this creative conundrum.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

Lady Ada Lovelace saw the future of computers even back in the nineteenth century. Learn about her life and ideas with this Smithsonian article. Then visit the Finding Ada website dedicated to celebrating women in science, engineering, math and technology. Love the SciShow? Hank Greene discusses Ada Lovelace’s Great Mind here.

How do you measure creativity? How can we tell that a robot is creative? Read this BBC article: Robots face new test of creative abilities and find out what robots are up against to prove that they are creative. How talented is the robot that paints? Meet e-David! Check out his painting on Vimeo. How do your artistic talents compare to his? Robots Can’t Dance gives some insight into whether scientists think robots can be creative or not. Follow this article up with Ken Golberg’s TED Talk: 4 Lessons from robots about being human. Do you think you can learn something about being human from a robot? How about a robot that plays music and “jams” with humans? Watch this TED Talk with Guy Hoffman: Robots with “soul.” Self-aware robots? Watch Hod Lipson’s TED Talk and find out!

Can robots learn to be more human? National Geographic, and then watch as University of Maryland researchers investigate robotic autonomy! What might this bring for the future of robots in medicine, science and military use? How do you feel about it?

If an Algorithm Wrote This, Would You Even Know? This latest article from the New York Times provides an interactive quiz: Did a Human or Computer Write This?. Take the quiz, you decide! How did you do?

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Meet The Creators

  • Educator Gil Weinberg
  • Director Hector Herrera
  • Producer Pazit Cahlon
  • Composer Nick Sewell, Mason Bretan
  • Script Editor Alex Gendler
  • Narrator Addison Anderson

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